TEMPERATURE- AND FIELD-INDUCED TRANSITIONS IN FREE-STANDING FILMS OF AN ANTIFERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTAL
Dolganov P.V., Demikhov E.I., Yoshiichi Suzuki, Atsuo Fukuda

Received: May 17, 2002

PACS: 61.30.Eb, 64.70.Md, 68.10.Cr

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Thin free-standing films of a compound with the smectic-C_A^* and smectic-C_α^* phases were investigated by means of depolarized microscopy and optical reflectivity. In thin films, the smectic phase sequence C_A^*-C_α^*-A is replaced by a series of temperature- and field-induced transitions into states with the coplanar orientation of molecular tilt planes. Transitions are accompanied by a change of the direction of the electric polarization with respect to the tilt plane of molecules. The coplanar structure of these states is consistent with the Ising model.